Amos 1, For three transgressions of Edom

Amos 1

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdman of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Amos = burden
End times = 3 1/2 years shortened to = 5 months = 5th trump 2 1/2 months = 6th trump 2 1/2
7th seal = shortened to 1/2 hour = 6th trump = 2 1/2 hour
Herdmen = Shepherds = Hebrew word nokdim; so called from a peculiar breed of stunted sheep (with fine wool).
Mesha was called a noked, rendered "sheep master"
2 Kings 3:4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
But Amos was also a herdsman, as is clear from Amos 7:14
Amos 7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
Where boker is from bakar, an ox, and hence is connected with ploughing
1 Kings 19:19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Amos was of the tribe of Judah
Two years before the earthquake
Zech 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
His = Christ feet
Tekoa = Now Khan Telkua, five miles south of Bethlehem, and ten from Jerusalem.
Which = which words
Saw = saw in a vision
Israel = This gives us the subject of the book. in the days.
Two years before the earthquake: before the one well known and remembered.

2 And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Roar = roar as a lion, or thunder. It is always, when predicated of the Lord, connected with the end of Gentile dominion.
Jeremiah 25:30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Joel 3:16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Utter = give out.
Habitations = pastures.
Shepherds. Not the same word as in Amos 1:1, but the usual word (raah = tenders).
Verse 1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Top of Carmel = Mount Carmel in the north, thus embracing the whole land; now Jebel Kurmul; not Carmel in Judah (south of Hebron); now el Kurmul.
Wither = be dried up.
Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Events and Consequences
Christ will returns on Mount Olive
Upon the Mount of Olives, this precludes the possibility of any reference to what is past.
No amount of "poetical imagery" can rob this plain statement of the yet future literal interpretation of this prophecy.
Valley between the northern and southern half of Olivet.
7th vial is poured out (Revelation 16)

Zechariah 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

The mountains = My mountains

3 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Thus saith the LORD. God's words: not the words of Amos.
Three . . . four. Hebrew idiom to express several, or many
Turn away = turn it back, or avert it. the punishment thereof.
There is no Ellipsis to be supplied, and no separate Hebrew word for "thereof".
The Hebrew is lo" ashibennu, I will not cause it to turn back: I will not avert it.
The pronoun "it" is masculine, agreeing with and referring to earthquake (Amos 1:1), and means that God would not avert it.
Thrashed Gilead = The very term used in 2 Kings 13:7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.
With = as it were with

4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.

Palaces: or fortresses
Ben-hadad = An official title of the Syrian kings = son of Hadad the sun-god.
The Ben-hadad of 2 Kings 13:3 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
Not of = 2 Kings 8:7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.
8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
13 And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely recover.
15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.

5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord.

Damascus = Syria
Aven = open field = the house of nothing
Sceptre = the leader = their religion
For the gates, and then the gates put for defence of the city.
The inhabitant: or, him that is seated: the ruler, corresponding with the next line.
Avon = Same a Beth-aven, east of Beth-el, belonging to Benjamin.
Hosea 4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The Lord liveth.
Hosea 5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin.
Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
Amos 9:7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
2 Kings 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
Isaiah 22:6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
The house of Eden = Beth-eden.
Kir = as the land from which the Syrians (Aramaeans) were once "brought up;" apparently as the country where they had dwelt before migrating to the region north of Palestine.
(A difference of opinion exists in regard to the position of Kir, since some suppose it to be identical with Carma, a city of Media, in the south, on the river Mardus; others place it in Armenia, on the river Kar.

6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:

Edom = Russia
Gaza = Now Ghuzzeh, in Philistia.
The whole captivity = a wholesale captivity.
Captivity = captives or a whole body of captives.
Jeremiah 13:19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jeremiah 47:1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
2 Chron 21:16 Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
2 Chron 28:17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
19 For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord.

7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

Wall = the whole city

8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.

Sceptre = the leaders = their religion
Ashdod = Afterward called by the Greeks, "Azotus".
Now Esclud, in the plain of Philistia, thirty-five miles north of Gaza.
Ashkelon = Now "Askalan, on the coast of Philistia.
1 Macc 1:10 And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
Ekron = Afterward, Greek, "Accaron"
Now "Akir, six miles west of Gezer.
For "Gezer " = Gezer was formerly under the suzerainty of Egypt.
Correspondence of the time of Amen-hotep III and IV, about 1450 B.C, has been found at Tel-el-Amarnah explorations, which mentions Yapakhi as "king" of Gezer.
Letters from Abdkhiba, king of Jerusalem, complain of the Gezerites.
First mentioned in Josh 10:33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Conquest only partial = Josh 16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
Judges 1:29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
Allotted to Levites = Josh 21:21 For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,
In excavation by Palestine Exploration Fund a contract was found, dated 649 B.C. (in Assyrian).
Gezer then still under an Egyptian Governor.
Another contract, dated 647 B. C, was found, showing an Assyrian occupation in the time of Manasseh.
This may explain the "captains"
Saith = hath said.
For "thus hath said Adonai God"

9 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

Tyrus = stones = Satan = rock
Christ is are Rock (Deut 32)

11 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

Genesis 27:39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;
Edom would live far away from the fat of the land
Genesis 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

13 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:

14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Fire = to cleanse out all evil
Fire = Holy Spirit to warm your heart and teaches us
About 25 miles from the Dead Sea

15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the Lord.

• Exactly 2520 years from the exile of Benjamin, Iceland became an independent nation.

• The first tribe to be conquered by the Assyrians was Manasseh, in 745 B.C. Exactly 2520 years later America became a nation on July 4, 1776.

• Study the book: Abrahamic Covenant, (A study outline of the identity of God's people) By E. Raymond Capt - page 25